Sorry about the late notice
Watch the Presidental Debate over a couple of Beers with new Friends
On Sept 22, 8:00pm to 10:00pm
A few of us will be gathering at Tailgaters Sports Bar & Restaurant 4706 75st Kenosha, WI 53142
They will have a couple of TVs tuned to the Debate for us in their eastside room
If you know anyone that would be interested in coming please bring them along. All are welcome.
I believe this is a perfect event to gather for. If you can't make it, no problem there will be more debate gathering
I look forward to seeing you again. I know we'll have a good time watching and talking about the candidates, plus other subjects that interest you.
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Wirch’s claim of helping land a big new employer is not only false but ridiculous -- or, Pants on Fire.
Bob Wirch on Monday, July 25th, 2011 in campaign mail piece
In Wisconsin recall race, Dem state Sen. Bob Wirch claims he helped attract employer with 800 jobs to his district
Bob Wirch, one of the two Democratic state senators in Wisconsin facing a recall election Aug. 16, 2011, tells voters they should keep him in office because of his record on creating jobs in his Kenosha-based district.
But can the former factory worker and 19-year lawmaker, who is being challenged by Republican Jonathan Steitz, fairly claim part of the credit for coaxing an Illinois company to bring hundreds of jobs over the border? NO .. Liar Liar "Pants on Fire"
The claim is made in a flier Wirch’s campaign mailed July 25, 2011 to voters. The flier cites Uline, a national distributor of shipping, industrial and packaging materials, and includes this headline:
"Bob Wirch helped bring Uline to our area -- creating 800 local jobs."
So, did he?
Uline describes itself as a family-owned company that employs 2,600 employees across the country. It was founded in 1980 by Dick and Liz Uihlein; Dick Uihlein is the great-grandson of the founder of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., one of Milwaukee’s famed beer makers.
The company was headquartered in Waukegan, Ill., just south of the Wisconsin border, when it announced n June 2006 that it would expand in Pleasant Prairie, a Kenosha suburb about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. Both Wirch and Steitz, a lawyer who is making his first run for public office, live in the village.
Uline made big news in January 2008, when it announced it would move its headquarters to Pleasant Prairie and build a distribution center there, investing $100 million and employing 1,000 people by 2010. The company also said it would utilize state government incentives that were later calculated to be worth up to $18.6 million over nine years.
The Wirch campaign flier led Dick and Liz Uihlein to issue a statement in response on Aug. 3, 2011.
"We worked with a variety of state and local officials during the relocation process; however, state Sen. Wirch was not one of them," the couple said in the statement, noting they do not support Wirch’s campaign.
That’s a strong rebuttal to Wirch’s claim that he aided in the company’s move.
The statement also noted that a bill Wirch sponsored to help Pleasant Prairie with economic development -- which is also mentioned in his campaign flier -- was not introduced until July 2011 -- months after Uline had completed its relocation. The bill was "by no means a determinative factor in our decision to relocate," the company’s statement said.
When Wirch’s bill was signed into law in August 2011, Wirch said it would lead to 800 new jobs in Pleasant Prairie being created through a future expansion at Uline and the launching of a new biotechnology business incubator, according to the Kenosha News.
But those 800 jobs are only projected, not already created, as the headline in Wirch’s campaign flier stated. Only some of the jobs are expected to come from Uline. And, in any case, they have nothing to do with Wirch’s claim that he helped Uline relocate to Wisconsin.
When asked to respond to the statement issued by Uline, Wirch said in an email to the Racine Journal Times that he had toured Uline in 2010 "and discussed with company leadership the importance of a strong workforce and well-trained workforce."
But touring Uline after it had relocated hardly equates to helping land the company in the first place.
Also responding to Uline’s statement, Wirch campaign spokesman Phil Walzak told the Kenosha News that all references to Uline would be omitted from future campaign materials. "Sen. Wirch is very respectful of Uline’s wishes and he has no intention of misrepresenting them," Walzak was quoted as saying.
We asked Gillian Morris, another spokesperson for Wirch’s campaign, for evidence that Wirch helped Uline’s relocation from Illinois. She argued the statement Dick Uihlein issued was "politically motivated" since he had contribute to the anti-tax Club for Growth. That’s not even on point.
The statement in question from Wirch is his claim that he "helped bring Uline to our area -- creating 800 local jobs." We found there is no evidence to back the boast.
Uline brought roughly that number of jobs to Wirch’s state Senate district by the time it concluded its move from Illinois in 2010. But the company said it didn’t work with Wirch at all on the relocation. And the bill Wirch makes reference to wasn’t signed into law until long after Uline had relocated.
Wirch’s claim of helping land a big new employer is not only false but ridiculous -- or, Pants on Fire.
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UpFront: Collective bargaining a hot spot in Wirch/Steitz appearance
Dem state Sen. Bob Wirch and GOP challenger Jonathan Steitz sparred during their taping of “UpFront with Mike Gousha,” jostling over the guv’s collective bargaining changes and the recalls of nine state lawmakers.
Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, called the collective bargaining changes the “worst attack on working people in the history of the state of Wisconsin.”
“With his mindset we would have been turning our back on people who are suffering, I’m not that type of politician,” Wirch said of his challenger.
Steitz ripped Wirch’s description of the changes to union powers.
“This was not the worst attack on working families; the worst attack on working families is the overspending and the continual tax increases Bob Wirch has been advocating for,” he said.
Listen to Jonathan, Kim and Paul Ryan from today's broadcast with Charlie Sykes on 620AM
Part1 of Charlie podcast dated Aug. 12th 2011
http://media2.620wtmj.com/SykesFullShow/081211_Sykesshow_part1.mp3
Kenosha Office
5901 75th St
(Speedway Plaza)
Saturday at 9am
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via Charlie Sykes Writes
Charles Krauthammer opines on the lessons of last week's Wisconsin recall elections.
The Tea-Party-propelled, debt-conscious Republicans then move to confront their states’ unsustainable pension and health-care obligations — most boldly in Wisconsin, where the new governor proposes a radical reorientation of the power balance between public-sector unions and elected government.
In Madison, the result is general mayhem — drum-banging protesters, frenzied unions, statehouse occupations, opposition legislators fleeing the state to prevent a quorum. A veritable feast of creative democratic resistance.
In the end, however, they fail. The legislation passes.
Then, further resistance. First, Democrats turn an otherwise sleepy state Supreme Court election into a referendum on the union legislation, the Democrats’ candidate being widely expected to overturn the law. The unions/Democrats lose again.
And then last Tuesday, recall elections for six Republican state senators, three being needed to return the Senate to Democratic control and restore balance to the universe. Yet despite millions of union dollars, the Republicans hold the Senate. The unions/Democrats lose again.
The people spoke; the process worked. Yes, it was raucous and divisive, but change this fundamental should not be enacted quietly. This is not midnight basketball or school uniforms. This is the future of government-worker power and the solvency of the states. It deserves big, serious, animated public debate.
Spare me the hysteria. What happened was that the 2010 electorate, as represented in Congress, forced Washington to finally confront the national debt. It was a triumph of democratic politics — a powerful shift in popular will finding concrete political expression.
Jonathan vs. Bob Aug 11th
